As a new viewer who hasn't seen season 1 I've learned this much from the 1st two episodes

1) Ichika seems to be the only guy at this school and thus the only guy able to use these Mecha. Is there a reason for that?
2) Most of the Mecha seem to be individualized and easily identified. The Army grunts at the end of episode 1 seem to know who they were up against just by seeing the mecha, before getting splattered
3) The Girls seem to represent different nations, suggesting this is a UN program or something
4) Harem Lead is particularly dense despite being clear target of every girl in school.
6) Laura is best Girl

You can watch season 1 ad free and in HD on theanimenetwork.com now so you should go and marathon it, it's really good! The OVA is on youtube as well (it is subscriber only on tan).

1) I don't believe the reason has yet been disclosed in the anime. It was hinted at in the first season but those hints were

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

pretty much all dispelled in the last few minutes leaving us still with a mystery though asharka is right that his childhood friend Houki's sister does make them

2) Only some of the girls have individual mecha, the rest have to borrow them but all the important ones have their own by now, the harem does at least.
3) Charlotte is France, Laura is Germany, Cecilia is England... yes it is a UN program and NO they are NOT soldiers. It is forbidden to use IS for militariy purposes... unless you are evil of course. And a law breaker.
4) Harem lead is very dense but... not really. He in fact really likes his childhood friend Houki, strongly hinted in both season 1 and the OVA that she is the best girl. But he likes the others too but unless you want him to go School Days he has to be dense, right?
5) There is no #5
6) Laura is great but I am really fond of Charlotte and of Houki, the childhood friend. Cecilia really never has much of a chance but she's really cute too. And the new girl is fun.

As a new viewer who hasn't seen season 1 I've learned this much from the 1st two episodes

1) Ichika seems to be the only guy at this school and thus the only guy able to use these Mecha. Is there a reason for that?
2) Most of the Mecha seem to be individualized and easily identified. The Army grunts at the end of episode 1 seem to know who they were up against just by seeing the mecha, before getting splattered
3) The Girls seem to represent different nations, suggesting this is a UN program or something
4) Harem Lead is particularly dense despite being clear target of every girl in school.
6) Laura is best Girl

1: yes, spoiler won't say
2: Alaska Treaty forbids Military use.
3: Worldwide IS Pilot training school
4: He is scared to be around so many girls in one place. in this setting men are viewed as weak and need protecting.
6: Laura tried to kill his ass!

A 3 year Boarding School for training pilots
Females Pilot the ISs
The Military can't use per the Alaska Treaty
Big Sis is an instructor, best pilot, World's past savior, Tournament Champion, Childhood friends with the IS's creator
IS is a multi form Suit
IS are used for sports and competitions
Students from all over the world attend. Including many countries' contender
Ichika is the only male student/pilot
Men/Women Roles are reversed in this setting.
Ichika has several childhood friends that attend
Ichika took care of all the cooking, cleaning, house chores for his Sister

Laura is best girl (after Chifuyu-nee) and I still don't understand every one's love for Charlotte, it's a mystery to me.

I had a whole new look at this series after hearing it Dubbed. Charl, Laura, Cecil actually have their countries accent. Which made me a fan of Charl! I wonder why there wasn't accent added to at least (Chinese),Rin. Hoki, & Others? I like all the girls. I don't think we are done seeing more characters.

Charlottes more like a human being who would ever actually exist in real life? She would be my first, followed by hoki then laura. The rest of them have really really abrasive japanese voice actors....

Charlottes more like a human being who would ever actually exist in real life? She would be my first, followed by hoki then laura. The rest of them have really really abrasive japanese voice actors....

Charlottes more like a human being who would ever actually exist in real life? She would be my first, followed by hoki then laura. The rest of them have really really abrasive japanese voice actors....

So you're saying since she's "realistic", she's better than the rest?

I didnt say shes realistic, just that she isnt so comically anime-tropetastic as the others

Charlottes more like a human being who would ever actually exist in real life? She would be my first, followed by hoki then laura. The rest of them have really really abrasive japanese voice actors....

So you're saying since she's "realistic", she's better than the rest?

I didnt say shes realistic, just that she isnt so comically anime-tropetastic as the others

Houki is childhood friend lover, Ling is rival childhood friend lover, Cecilia is rival turned lover, Laura is coldhearted turned lover, Char can be seen as friend supporter (Laura) who also loves lead.

They're all freakin tropetastic in my opinion. You might consider the others comical because childhood friends and coldhearted girls are more prevalent in anime.

Charlottes more like a human being who would ever actually exist in real life? She would be my first, followed by hoki then laura. The rest of them have really really abrasive japanese voice actors....

So you're saying since she's "realistic", she's better than the rest?

I didnt say shes realistic, just that she isnt so comically anime-tropetastic as the others

Houki is childhood friend lover, Ling is rival childhood friend lover, Cecilia is rival turned lover, Laura is coldhearted turned lover, Char can be seen as friend supporter (Laura) who also loves lead.

They're all freakin tropetastic in my opinion. You might consider the others comical because childhood friends and coldhearted girls are more prevalent in anime.

I dunno I rarely see the Charlotte type in anime, which is kind of refreshing. She is sort of like if you took the main character's best friend in all the other harem animes, you know, the one who is for some reason usually voiced by Yoshino Hiroyuki, and you made him into a heroine. I think that is part of the reason why people like her so much, because she contains like the perfect balance between friend and love interest.

Tanamachi Kaoru from Amagami and Nonoka from Photo Kano kind of fit that spot, but those aren't really harem animes since it's 1 girl per universe iteration.

I dunno I rarely see the Charlotte type in anime, which is kind of refreshing. She is sort of like if you took the main character's best friend in all the other harem animes, you know, the one who is for some reason usually voiced by Yoshino Hiroyuki, and you made him into a heroine. I think that is part of the reason why people like her so much, because she contains like the perfect balance between friend and love interest.

Tanamachi Kaoru from Amagami and Nonoka from Photo Kano kind of fit that spot, but those aren't really harem animes since it's 1 girl per universe iteration.

I guess I understand that.

So the friend trait falls into 2 categories: childhood friend and other friend?
^ Serious question.

I also have to wonder how much of why people like Char is also due to her being voiced by HanaKana.

As a new viewer who hasn't seen season 1 I've learned this much from the 1st two episodes

1) Ichika seems to be the only guy at this school and thus the only guy able to use these Mecha. Is there a reason for that?
2) Most of the Mecha seem to be individualized and easily identified. The Army grunts at the end of episode 1 seem to know who they were up against just by seeing the mecha, before getting splattered
3) The Girls seem to represent different nations, suggesting this is a UN program or something
4) Harem Lead is particularly dense despite being clear target of every girl in school.
6) Laura is best Girl

4: He is scared to be around so many girls in one place. in this setting men are viewed as weak and need protecting.

Men/Women Roles are reversed in this setting.

now this is really interesting to me.
Can I assume it's because of the Mecha? How long have they been around to influence things that much?

Can't have been too long. If Ichika is a target for DNA acquisition because of his quirk of being able to use a mecha that sounds like a move by the Old Boys club to regain the throne.